Yesterday, I ran the Stretton Hills race which was the first race in this year’s English Championship. That’s not why I ran it. Dave was planning to race, we had a day out receeing it a couple of weeks ago and as there were still places left last week, I thought I may as well do it.
On the final climb – I’m not sure if I’m actually making progress!
The English Championship is organised by the FRA every year. There are six races to choose from: two short, two medium and two long. Your best four count but you have to do one of each length. The first 20 runners in each 5-year age category gain points for the championship table (the first 10 in the categories with fewer runners). You have to run as your first claim club and you have to be a member of the FRA or affiliated to English Athletics. There are also team championships so there is an opportunity to gain points for your club as well as for yourself.
While I was waiting for the race to start, watching the blizzard going on outside, members of Pennine were talking about how many team counters they had for the various age categories. They only had three ladies there and although I am a member of Pennine I couldn’t count as I was entered as Goyt Valley. In fact, I had to register as Goyt Valley as it’s my first claim club (of course!) Someone asked me if I would get points for the Goyt Valley ladies team. Since I was the only GVS member there I pointed out that we didn’t have any teams at all! That made me wonder why we don’t have GVS members entering these races. Is it because they are thought to be too difficult? Or is it because people don’t know about them?
I must admit they do tend to be hard races with navigation skills needed. They are definitely not for novice fellrunners. You can’t gamble on following someone else if the clag is down and the route will not normally be flagged. They are definitely real old-fashioned fell races usually with route choices. Stretton Hills was a short race, just less than 10k but there was 630m of climbing and some of the ascent was like the climbs on Horrid Farm but longer!
So how did I get on? Well I wasn’t last and I found all the checkpoints but that is about all you can say. The field is of a very high standard, of course, with the best fell runners in the country at all ages taking part. At Stretton Hills there were six FV60’s and four FV65. Often in local fell races, I’m the only old lady there. This time I was 9th out of the 10! I was up against the likes of Wendy Dodds, Ann-Marie Jones, Pat Goodall etc. I was pleased not to come in 10th place to be honest. The weather was interesting with strong wind and some sleety showers just to add to the atmosphere. By about half way through, the steep climbs and descents had really spread the runners out and I lost sight of the runner in front of me and had to find my own way back to the finish. Good job I’d recee’d it as getting out a map and compass would have made me even slower. As in all fell races though everyone was very friendly, the marshals were encouraging even though they must have been freezing cold and fed-up of waiting for the tailenders like me. And as with many fell races there was lovely soup, tea and cake at the finish.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve done one or two English Champs races as they are always in Pennine’s Championship. Dave tends to do them and I’ve sometimes entered if I thought I could get round without being cut-off. Since I turned 60, I’ve scored points in the FV60 championship just by turning up, as there are relatively few FV60 and FV65 ladies. Last year I finished in 10th place in the FV60 championship and I only did one race which was the Edale Skyline.
The races this year are Stretton Hills(S), Howgills(L), Great Lakes(L), Blackfell(M), Grisdale Pike(M) and Ilam(S). Getting an entry has been problematic in the past but this year they have a different system. The best runners in each category have guaranteed entry if they want it, then anyone can enter over about a week when entries open. Places are then allocated by random ballot. This seems to have worked for Stretton Hills as everyone who wanted a place got one and there were a just few places spare.
So, if you enjoy hard races and can find your way reasonably well across unmarked rough ground, it is worth considering entering the English Championship. Perhaps something for our more competitive (in both senses of the word) runners to consider for the future.
I took over as Fixtures Secretary in the Autumn of 2018, initially on a temporary basis. Thanks go to Alex Elsworth for his hard work in this role for several years. At the AGM on 2nd February, 2019, I was formally elected to the role.
2018 Main Championship
Alex chose an interesting selection of races for the 2018 Championship. As had become the norm in recent years, there were six road races, six trail races and six fell races. For each of these different terrains there were two short (less than 10k), two medium (10-20k), and two long (over 20k) races*. To complete the championship you have to do one race of each terrain and one of each distance, so in theory you could do one short fell, one medium trail and one long road. This would earn you a qualifying set of races and a T-shirt. Your points from the best 8 races count so, to have a chance of winning a prize, you really need to do at least 8 races.
We had an excellent start to 2018 with 20 people taking part in Hit the Trail. Over the year, 45 people did at least one race, with 14 doing a qualifying set of races. Surprisingly though, only 9 people did 8 races, which is a bit of a drop from recent years. This applied particularly to the ladies!
The Kinder Downfall race was popular as usual, as were the race around Tittesworth Reservoir, the Poynton 10k, and Lantern Pike. The Alderley Edge By-Pass was surprisingly enjoyable, in spite of the 26 degree heat at 8am and the lack of any breeze! Those who went to do the half marathon at Coed Y Brenin had great time on the one day of the summer when it rained – it was a relief! – as did the intrepid four who did the long and difficult Holme Moss fell race. The Roaches is always a challenge and had another select group of Striders braving the river crossing and the climb up and down Shutlingsloe.
Lucas and James H battled it out for the Overall Men’s Championship, with Wayne in 3rd place. Nathan joined the club during the year and had some very good results, as did Col and James R in the races they did. Lucas and Wayne were top in the Men’s V40.
The Men’s V50 turned into a bit of a battle between Mark W and Matt. Poor Mark was ill for the final race, meaning that Matt pipped him to the post to earn 1st place. Chris T was 3rd.
The Overall Ladies’ Championship came down to just Christine, Tracy and myself. In fact, the final positions came down to the last descent on the last race, which was the Shittern Santa Saunter. Christine skipped past me as we headed back down to Glossop, and there was no way that I could catch her! However, I had already won the Ladies’ V50 Championship so I wasn’t too upset.
2018 Summer Fell Championship
The Summer Fell Championship consists of 9 races which take place on mid-week evenings in the Summer. Your best 5 races count, and there are no age categories.
18 people did at least one race but, conveniently, it came down to the three people who did the required 5 races in both the Men’s and the Ladies’ Championship. Congratulations to James H, Wayne and Connor and to Megan, Anna and Julia.
2019 Main Championship
Last Autumn the Committee decided to do an analysis of previous 4 years’ Championships, to see which types of races were popular and would be likely to appeal to members, and encourage lots of people to take part this year. We noticed that the road races tended to be less popular, and that fell races were more popular, especially local ones. We also asked members for suggestions, and these ideas were taken into account when selecting the final choice of races.
We have reduced the number of road races to 4. We kept to 6 trail races, and increased the number of fell races to 8 – still making 18 races in all. You still have to do one of each terrain, and one of each length to get a qualifying set of races. Your best 8 scores will count as usual. As before, the person in first place gets 60 points, the person in second 59 points and so on.
We decided to start this year’s Championship by reinstating the idea of including a Park Run. We chose Lyme Park and, knowing that some may be cancelled, or the route changed in bad weather, we said that your best time on any full course Lyme Park Park Run in January or February – including New Year’s Day – would gain you championship points. So far 43 people taken part! James R and Nathan currently have the best times with Amelia well ahead in the ladies.
Apart from the Park Runs, the first race was The Three Halls of Stockport, which we classified as a trail race but actually involved a lot of road. It was a different type of event ,as you had to navigate to three Stockport landmarks, and this produced its own challenge for some people! Aidan won the event itself, as well as gaining himself 60 points in our championship, with Jane gaining 60 points in the Ladies’ Championship.
The next race is the Carsington Water Half Marathon which you can do on either the Saturday or Sunday, but unfortunately this race is already full. We tried to avoid races that fill up quickly, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. We will try to notify the club when race entries open and when we think places might fill up. However, there are lots of others to choose from during the year: some are more challenging; some are less so and doable by everyone.
The Pavilion Gardens 5k is on 9th March and is another free event. For those of you who don’t like road, this is the easy way to get your road race ticked. The Whitehall Wiggle, in aid of the Thomas Theyer Foundation, will be a fully marked course, and we followed the route on an Away Run last year. Mount Famine and the Kinder Trog are always popular local fell races, as is Windgather. We have included a Lake District race as requested – we chose Newlands Memorial which was formerly the Anniversary Waltz – it’s not too difficult as Lakes races go, but it won’t be marked and you will have to find your own way round. Entry is now open.
Entry is also open for the Congleton Half Marathon and the Cheshire 10k – make sure you enter the one in November as they also have one is March. This is a fast course for anyone wanting a PB. Bollington Three Peaks gives you a bottle of beer for finishing and the Warslow Beer Festival race is, well, part of a beer festival! Also in Bollington is the Bollington 10k. We have included Fell n’ Back which raises money for the Buxton Mountain Rescue Team – if you don’t want to run this one please contact me to offer your help with registration or results if you are free. Last year we had several Striders helping, which was really appreciated by Dave and the rest of the Buxton MRT.
Last year, 11 members did the Bullock Smithy, which was more than did some of the Championship races so, by popular request, it is included. A mere 56 miles! This is a GVS tradition, and there is plenty of time to build up your endurance and to take part in some recces.
At the end of the end of the year we have the Dovedale Dash which is quite an experience if you haven’t done it and Litton Christmas Cracker. Both these races involve getting your feet wet!
Summer Fell Championship 2019
As usual we are starting the Summer Fell with Herod Farm, known to us as “Horrid Farm”. It’s usually a warm evening and makes us feel that Summer has arrived. We finish this Championship in August with Cracken Edge and, in between, we have races of varied length and difficulty, including the Wizard 5 at Alderley Edge, Sheldon, and the Boar’s Head, all of which are not too hard . The May Queen race is the night before Mount Famine in the Main Championship but we thought that this might encourage you to do all three races in the Three Days in May series as you would just have to dash up Lantern Pike on the Sunday to gain lots of points in the Hayfield Championship.
Do take part!
The committee hope that you feel that there is something for everyone here. If you don’t usually do the Championship, then I would encourage you to have a go! It does get easier to stand on the start line – I still often wonder why I’m there but once I get running, I feel fine, even if I’m on a race that is challenging for me.
It’s always fun to be at a race with other Striders and, as a club, we are always very supportive of each other, with fast runners usually staying on the finish line to cheer the rest of us in! It’s also a good way to get to know other club members, especially if you car share. I will try to organise some recces if I can in the week or two before some of the races. Keep an eye on Facebook or Cluster to see the latest notifications and arrangements.
* Editor’s note: In previous years, the classifications were: short – 5 miles or less; medium – 5-10 miles; long – over 10 miles. This year, the committee decided to bring the definitions into line with the FRA definitions.
As you can see, the start of the evening is the reports from the secretary collective – I’ll give a general overview, Chris, acting fixtures secretary, will report on the championship, Kevin, membership secretary will give an update on membership and Brian, treasurer will present the club accounts.
We will then have the election of officers, the presentations, then something to eat and finally the legendary quiz.
Committee
I would first of all again like to thank the committee for their commitment and efforts through this year. The committee keep things happening behind scenes, and I hope when it comes to the election of officers, others consider getting involved as new ideas and energy are always welcome. Even if you don’t sign up, remember you are always welcome to come along to the meetings.
Unfortunately our Chairman Pete Hill can’t be with us tonight.
Other committee members are:
Tracy – social secretary – thanks to Tracy for organising the important aspects of this meeting tonight – i.e. food, drink and quiz!
Helen Parry who manages the Kit
Chris Tetley, our comms guru, along with Pete Fotheringham who manages the Strider
Lucas Jones – general committee member and of course Whaley Waltz manager
I’d also like to thank Alex Elsworth who carried out the fixtures secretary role until October
Although the committee have an important role, I think more than ever now we have many members who themselves organise runs, and recces. There is a lot of encouragement and motivation from fellow members to get involved, and push ourselves to do better – although at times I suspect it’s just to prevent public humiliation from others.
GVS@30
This was the 30th Anniversary Year for Goyt Valley Striders, and we started it at the last AGM with some of the founder members joining us for the evening. Lou Lomas, who started the club, is genuinely thrilled with the ongoing strength of the club, and Sue Stafford was particularly pleased to note the high percentage of women now in the club.
Much thanks has to go to Kevin Day and Rebecca Glen for the efforts put into organising both open and club anniversary races. Not only was the organisation of these events excellent, but we also benefitted from some beautifully presented mementos and prizes. My knitted fir tree had pride of place on my Christmas tree this year and our new mugs were adorned with correctly spelled logos! Thanks to both of you from all of us.
Club Runs
When the club first started, Sunday mornings were the main club run. Now, Sundays are still busy for many – with the aforementioned invitations to join up for runs, and Mr Ambrose’s Sunday mob – but we are also achieving good turn outs for the club runs on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evenings and Saturday morning. It’s great to see so many turn up each week, whatever the weather. Thanks to Mark for continuing the training sessions over the winter months – I remember in the days of Andy Pead a call for involvement included the line “and you may even burp up a little sick”, I suspect this is still the case and I learned from Caz that there is a sense of pride in achieving this! Thanks to Steve Lowe and Chris T for pushing the Thursday sessions, which start from different places, but have an end in common – i.e. the pub. I know they would like more people to suggest runs for Thursdays, so if you have any ideas post them up.
It looks as though this year will see the resurgence of the social/beginners groups which are important to introduce new runners.
All the away runs were also well attended, thank you to all the away run leaders. If you would like to lead an away run this year we will be asking for leaders next month.
The members races were all well attended, the Magic Mile, Sting in the Tail, Terry’s Race . Look out for the dates of these 2019. All of these are based on estimated times rather than quickest times, giving everyone equal opportunity to win. I think the amount of home baking produced at Terry’s race is unprecedented.
Races
The races hosted by GVS were also well attended. Our thanks go to the race managers.
Buxworth 5, managed by Kevin Day had 179 runners and raised £705 for Action for Sick Children plus £300 for our new club tent.
Whaley Waltz, managed by Mary and Lucas, had 208 runners and raised £1,006, supporting the Thomas Theyer foundation again this year.
Eccles Pike, managed by Matilda Simon, had 171 runners and raised £582.30 .
The new anniversary trail race had 185 runners and made £1,200 with donations to the National Park and Taxal Loo, and some of which we have kept for club use. The good news is that Kevin has confirmed it will be held again this year.
That means that this year we have again made significant contributions to our favourite charities. Well done everyone involved as managers and marshals.
This year Lucas will be working with Mark Ruston with a view to handing over the baton of race director. Similarly Matilda will be working with Tracy to hand over the directorship of the Eccles Pike race.
Communications
Thanks again to Chris T for his work on the web site. It is always up to date and easy to navigate. For many it is the first experience of the club.
Our public on-line presence is via the public GVS Facebook page and Twitter account. We also have a closed group Facebook page started by Lucas to share information between members. We aim to ensure this does remain a forum for members and club friends by checking against our membership list, so please remember to renew your membership so that you can stay in the conversation. We also have the new Cluster group set up by Chris, which has replaced the old GVS forum page. This is being well used, and it is worth copying your posts onto this forum so than non-Facebook users can be included.
This year the Strider Newsletter went online, thanks to Pete. This saves us money on printing and delivery costs and means articles can be posted immediately rather than wait for the next edition. Thanks to those who have posted articles, if you haven’t read these yet I can recommend a visit to the web site to have a look. It would be good to see some more articles.
We’ve now had to start paying for the Flickr account. We decided that this is worth doing as the photos put on Flickr are a much higher resolution than FB, giving us a great back catalogue of photos, so it would be good to see more uploading of photos to the account for sharing.
Any questions\suggestions about any of this talk to Lucas, Chris or Pete.
People
There have been some remarkable achievements this year. These are just some examples, There are too many to mention – but needless to say I am constantly in awe of what people in the club can push themselves to.
Pete Ambrose completed his challenge of 5 ultras for Thomas raising £3,585.00 for the Thomas Theyer Foundation.
Mark Ruston completed the 95 mile West Highland Way, the great North Run with Linette, and the Bullock Smithy.
Chris and Dave completed the Tour Monte Rosa and the Hong Kong Mountain Trail.
Chris and Dave at Monte Rosa
Steve Hennessey completed the Joss Naylor challenge.
One legend meets another: Joss Naylor and Steve Hennessey
Chris T, Tracy and Roy joined Pete and Mark on the Bullock Smithy, and Tracy joined Pete on a freezing dusk till dawn.
Pete and Tracy – Dusk till Dawn
Col, Amelia,Dave and Paul completed the Trigger Race and Paul and Col have just completed it again.
Dave Ardern gained silver at the European duathlon championship.
But for me, this year was definitely the Year of team GVS.
Most of the challenges above were achieved through the support and encouragement of other GVS members. This is through both support\nagging\bullying on the day, and supporting recces and planning before hand. The fell running community generally is known for supporting other runners rather than claiming individual glory, and the club has demonstrated this is buckets this year.
And talking of teams, thanks to Chris B we have once again become involved in the FRA relays, having 2 teams entered last year, and we will be doing the same this year. James was wounded on the race, and Tracy wounded by the Tannoy announcement when she tried to find him to take him to hospital. Both have recovered well!
And again thanks to James for organising the cross country teams, The senior men and ladies are in 4th positions in their league, so a chance that they may achieve promotion this year. The Vet men’s are 1st in their division so will be promoted, well done to them. Stand out performances from Moira Hunt, Megan King and Paul Oakley.
Awards
Overall Club Champion: Lucas Jones
Ladies Champion: Christine Hill
Men’s Champion: Lucas Jones
Mens Vet 40: Lucas Jones
Mens Vet 50: Matt Biglin
Ladies Vet 50: Christine Bowen
Summer Fell Men: James Hobson
Summer Fell Lades: Megan King
Chairman’s Award: Pete Ambrose
Keep on Running Award: Martin Didge and Maggie
Terry’s Race: Eddie Webb
Sting in the Tail: Rebecca Glen
Election of Officers
All existing committee re-elected plus
Chris Bowen: Fixtures Secretary: Nominated Kevin Day, Seconded Brian Holland.
Jane Adlard: general Committee: nominated Chris Bowen, Seconded Helen Parry.
Deciding on the date for this year’s Terry’s Race was problematic, what with the GVS Anniversary Race, the British Relays, and the Cross Country fixtures to be avoided. The only option was 4th November but then we discovered that there were two organised running events in the Goyt Valley in the morning. Faced with the thought of over 400 people on the paths in OUR valley we chose to hold Terry’s Race in the afternoon this year.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Terry’s Race is held each year in memory of Terry Lardner. Terry ran with the club until he became ill and sadly died from cancer some years ago now. The race goes past Terry’s tree, a rowan planted in his memory. The Race Winner is awarded the The Terry Lardner Memorial Trophy at the AGM each year. Runners are set off at intervals and you guess your own time before you set off. The person nearest their time is the winner. No watches are allowed! This gives everyone an equal chance to win.
The race starts at the Taxal layby on Long Hill. The route is the same each year but the direction alternates. This year we ran anti-clockwise setting off up the B*tard fields, up onto Taxal Edge passing Terry’s tree, past Windgather Rocks, down The Street and back along the valley.
The sun was breaking through the mist as 19 runners gathered to take part this year. It had been a very misty, damp morning so we were very lucky. Our smart new club tent was put up in case of rain as we had to provide shelter, not for the runners, but for THE CAKES. We usually have cakes at the end of this race but this year our very talented bakers surpassed themselves with an amazing array of cakes. Sweets and fruit added to the banquet that awaited those who ran.
Most runners underestimated their times this year – due I think to the dry conditions underfoot. Sally was 15 minutes under her estimated time! Several other people also had great runs beating their previous PBs.
Eddie Webb, winner of Terry’s Race 2018
I’m pleased to say that new member Eddie was the eventual winner in spite of the dramatic head injury sustained on the GVS anniversary race last weekend. He even identified the very rock that caused the damage but managed to avoid it as he ran past it this time. He was just 20 seconds over his estimated time of 1 hour 8 minutes. Lesley and Kirsty were 1 minute 36 seconds and 1 minute 37 seconds under their estimate so I have designated them joint 2nd so account for discrepancies in my timing and Wayne was 3rd.
Mark W. ran unofficially in the morning and had a very fast time of 1 hour, 1 minute and 55 seconds. If he had run in the afternoon he would also have been 2nd, being just over 1 minute under his estimated time.
I thought we wouldn’t make any impact on the amount of cake we had but I was wrong! Runners tucked in and enjoyed sampling several cakes while waiting for Mary to get back. She had unfortunately twisted her ankle and had to walk back along the valley. Lucas and Tess gallantly stayed with her. We hope your ankle recovers quickly, Mary.
Thank you to Helen P for helping me at the start and finish, to those who put up and took down the tent and, of course, to the bakers!
The human mind has a remarkable ability to suppress painful memories and focus on the happy ones, which probably goes some way to explaining why, a year after our first experience of the Equinox 24 hour race, “Team WB” found ourselves once again in the grounds of Belvoir Castle, ready to run round and round in circles for exactly a day. The team was headed up once again by some-time Strider Amanda Skeldon, and though we’d lost Anna Aspinall and Caz Whittle to long-term injuries this year, the team still had a strong GVS core of myself, Julie Elison, Sally Kaill, Connor Lomax, and new recruit James Hobson.
Our first attempt, in 2016, had actually been surprisingly successful considering our strongest runner, Team GB age-group triathlete Dane Stanley, was struck down with a stomach bug. After an entertaining all-night battle with our friends from Marple Runners, we’d ended up finishing one place above them in 25th out of 116 large (8 person) teams. We managed 26 laps of the 10km course, but given that the 5th place team only did 4 more, we came away feeling that with a bit more luck and a bit less illness we could come back and challenge for a top 10 place. With Julie on top form as newly crowned Summer Fell champion, and on the verge of also adding the main championship, and James also fresh from winning the men’s Summer Fell series, we had no shortage of fast runners. Add in the fact that Amanda and Dane had recently completed half iron-mans (iron-men?), I’d just done my first ultra, Sally was in the late stages of training for her first marathon, and we hoped to have the endurance side covered. And that’s without mentioning our new recruit Paul “Kingy” King, who had just cycled the length of the country on a reclining bike and was known to be a strong runner too (though quite how strong, we were yet to find out!).
The race starts at midday on the Saturday, and having all turned up mid-morning last year we’d had to settle for a camping spot well away from the track and main “village” area. So this year we resolved to head over on the Friday, get set-up in a prime spot, and enjoy the Friday night entertainment, the highlight of which is a “beer run” around the section of the course through the camping field. Things didn’t work out quite as planned though. My own participation in the Friday fun was cancelled well in advance when one of my favourite bands, who I’d been waiting to tour the UK again for several years, announced they were playing the Apollo on the Friday night. Sally and Dane were also unable to get over on the Friday, but the others were good to go… or so we thought.
The first sign that we may not be heading into the race in the top-10 form we hoped came when, a week or two before, Amanda was struck down with a really nasty bout of tonsillitis, with an accompanying fever for good measure, and by the Monday before had been told by the doctor to rest for two weeks. Obviously she interpreted this advice as “only go to Equinox on the Saturday morning, and maybe only do 2 or 3 laps instead of 4”. But no matter, we still had four of the team on the way to get there good and early and get the tents up… or did we?
Team HQ
Connor was first on the scene on Friday, travelling alone with the bulk of the tents while the others followed in James’, erm, trusty VW campervan. He soon picked a prime spot on the finishing straight, 100m or so from the start / finish, and directly opposite a much expanded Marple Runners contingent and what can only be described as their tent city, and got to work getting the tents up. A couple of hours later, and there was still no sign of the others, so our heroic adventurer continued on with the erection single-handed (sorry). By later afternoon Connor had managed to put up two family tents and the GVS Coleman shelter, but there was still no sign of reinforcements. The reason soon became clear, when he received an SOS call from James. The clutch on his van had failed, about 15 miles short of Belvoir castle. The only course of action was for Connor to head out in his little Toyota Yaris and give them a tow. Eventually they all made it in, just in time to sit out a rain-drenched evening, gazing wistfully at Marple and their huge marquee, complete with two pizza ovens. Eventually they were invited over for drinks, where they found out that Marple were fielding no fewer than four large teams this year… we’d have our work cut out to beat them all! But at least we were through all the set-backs and on course to give it our best shot… or just about.
Rest and recovery is crucial…
When you’ve earned your recovery drink…
Midday soon rolled round, and we were off, Dane leading out on the first leg. We were a little surprised when he took a couple of minutes more than expected to complete the lap, but we were more surprised still when we found out the reason for the delay. We won’t go into the details in these pages… you can ask him in person if you see him, or failing that you can ask a squirrel. Solid first laps from Sally and James followed, and then we sent Kingy out. If we were surprised that Dane’s first lap took a little longer than we thought, that was nothing compared to our shock when Kingy came cruising past the tent looking like he hadn’t broken a sweat with less than 41 minutes on the clock for his lap. Suddenly that top 10 finish looked on once again if he could keep that pace up. 7 of the 8 were in fine form and the game was on… if everybody else could just stay fit.
By Saturday morning we were finally all assembled, the rain had gone and we were raring to go. Amanda was still suffering badly and expecting to only manage one or two laps, but that was the least of her worries when she got a call from home to say that the slight eye infection her daughter had woken up with was proving worse than thought – the doctor had advised her husband to take her to the hospital to get it sorted, throwing childcare plans into disarray. It was looking like she might have to jump straight back in a car and head home before the race even began. Fortunately my wife Jac came to the rescue and stepped in to look after Amanda’s son, and the news from the hospital was good, so total crisis was averted.
Connor and I were next up, and then Julie. When it got to 52 minutes and she hadn’t finished we were a little concerned, but thought maybe she was just pacing herself, knowing that there would be another 30km to run. The look on her face as she passed the tent said otherwise, and we soon found out what an incredible effort she’d put in to get round in 52 minutes, having been struck with agonising pain early in the run. Something had gone very wrong in her hip, and she was soon loading up on pain killers and heading over to the free massage tent. Amanda was our last runner out for a first leg, knowing that it could well be her only one. She fought her way round in an hour and after one lap each we were holding our own in the mid-teens.
As darkness fell, we headed out one-by-one for our second laps. Kingy once again put in the performance of the round, once again hitting 41 minutes while looking like he was enjoying a casual stroll. For my own part, with my second lap scheduled for 22:30, and the temperature dropping, I was starting to realise that much as I love camping, there’s a reason it’s usually accompanied by plenty of beer. I’d allowed myself a small can of Brew Dog at around 8pm, but two hours later the effects had worn off as we huddled around the small bbq that was our only heat source. We just tried to ignore the massive pizza and prosecco party which seemed to be going on over the track in the Marple camp! I got that lap done, and then came the trickiest part of the day to manage. Having just done a 10k run, there’s no way you’re going straight to sleep, but at the same time, you know you need to get some rest before the next one. And that next lap would be coming round earlier than planned, as we wouldn’t be getting any more laps from Julie or Amanda… or so we thought.
Marple runners – thriving on pizza and prosecco
Faced with the prospect of us only having 3 or 4 hours between our night-time runs, Amanda bravely stepped forward and offered to go out again, despite hardly being able to stand up. She knew she’d be well over an hour, but to be honest, the rest of us were happy for the delay to our next run to be as long as possible. So out she went, at 23:20, and I headed off for a massage. By the time I’d queued for and had my massage and got back, it was well after midnight, so I tried to hit the hey. This is when I realised I’d forgotten something essential… ear plugs. While our camp was now reduced to 2 or 3 people awake at any given time, quietly chatting around the embers of the bbq, in other nearby camps the party was clearly in full swing. The last time I remember looking at my watch it was coming up to 3am… and I was due to be woken up at 4:20 to get ready for my next run.
It felt like I’d literally just dropped off when a voice started calling me name to get up. It’s hard to over-state quite how low I felt at this point. I’ve never been a morning person, and the standard 6:30 alarm on a work day, after 8 hours sleep, is torture. This was another level though, as I dragged myself out of my sleeping bag on the verge of tears, cursing the day I ever agreed to take part in this stupid enterprise. As Connor handed over the baton, I was feeling no more optimistic about the situation, and the next 55 minutes were quite possibly the least enjoyable 10k I’ve ever run, save maybe the last 10k of Manchester Marathon. I eventually stumbled across the line, and this time headed straight back to bed, and was asleep within minutes.
This time I managed over two hour’s sleep, and actually woke up by myself, as bright morning sunshine streamed into the tent, along with the smell of fried bacon. As I emerged bleary eyed into the world, the horrors of 4am suddenly seemed like nothing but a bad dream. Admittedly the lack of sleep was probably still playing a part, but this time the tears that threatened to roll as I saw the constant stream of runners of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities passing the tent were tears of joy and an overwhelming sense of community and achievement. As the morning progressed and more people came to, the crowds lining the last km around the camping field grew, and with them the shouts of encouragement and praise. To see a solo runner dragging themselves past 150km was mind-blowingly inspiring (a lot of the ladies present finding this to be especially true of a certain athlete from Vegan Runners!). As 10am, and my final lap approached, I was once again raring to go.
This time I felt like I floated round, spurred on by shouts of encouragement as I passed the solos and pairs, who had done four times as many laps as me, and I hit that last lap of the field in a state of euphoria. I knew that Julie had, incredibly, put herself forward to hobble around a final lap, if Dane could get the baton round to her before the midday cut-off. Crossing the line and handing over to Dane, with over an hour to go, I knew we’d done enough to record a fantastic 29 laps. What’s more, although the organisers had been having massive problems since early in the morning with keeping the live results going, we knew that we were not only on for a top 10 finish with this many laps, but were somewhere around the top 5 or 6.
Unfortunately, the guys from Stuweb were still struggling to get the results confirmed, but the gob-smacking news was that, from what we could see we’d not only achieved our aim of a top ten finish, but were somehow in 3rd place out of 94 large teams! And so ensued a long and marginally tense wait for the results to be ratified. It took over an hour, which at least gave us time to get the tents down and packed up, but eventually, finally, the prizes were handed out, and sure enough we were called up to the podium. Having never before come close to being involved in the post-race prize shenanigans, this was the perfect end to an amazing weekend.
As I sat with the in the camp for that last hour or two, watching other teams take it in turns to join up and cross the finish line for the last time as one, roared on by ever-increasing crowds (a special mention once again to Marple Runners, who were immense in their support), it was hard not to feel that we were part of something truly special. And then, finally (though earlier than expected given her injury!) it was our turn, as Julie rounded the corner onto the finishing straight. Remembering the slightly-obscured-by-other-teams finish line photos from last year, we made sure to drop back until we ensured we had a good space ahead of us, and then over the line we went, hand in hand, a joyous finish to a crazy 24 hours. And then we headed to the timing tent to find out how we’d done…
So, how’s that ability to suppress painful memories, and will we be back next year? Well, yes and no. If you’d asked me at 4am if I’d ever do it again, my answer would have been a very definitive no, but in the end the positives outweigh the negatives, and for some crazy reason I’m looking forward to the next one. As it happens, though, next year’s Equinox 24 clashes with a triathlon which three of the team, myself included, have already entered… but it seems there’s a very similar 24 hour event in Leeds in June. And guess what, there’s only a couple of hours darkness in June, so count me in! If any of this has inspired you to give 24 hour relays a go, there’s always room for us to start trying to rival that Marple encampment for numbers. If you want to hear any more about the whole experience, give me a shout some time!
Welcome to the new, online version of ‘The Strider’, the GVS newsletter / blog. It will contain the same kinds of articles that were published in the paper version – race reports, articles, recipes, photos – along with more topical, ‘newsy’ articles, reprints of articles from earlier newsletters, and links to articles and posts in other running-related blogs and web sites.
Your contributions to ‘The Strider’ are vital, and always welcome, as are any comments or feedback you may have on these pages, and suggestions as to how they could be improved. Please send them all to me using the email link in the menu (or give them to me in person – I’m quite often out running in Whaley on a Tuesday evening and Saturday morning).
The blog is likely to change a bit over coming weeks and months as we try different things to see what works. Please bear with us, as publishing online is new to us, and we won’t get it right straightaway.
We hope you will enjoy what you find here, and we will try to make sure stuff gets published more regularly than the printed newsletter 🙂 The first article will be Aidan Grant’s review of the Equinox 24 race. He wrote it a while back – for an issue of the paper newsletter that was never produced – but it’s still a great read.
